From The Road: Ohio To Kentucky

October 9, 2007

Would you believe I missed The Annual Duck Tape Festival in Avon, Ohio ("The Duck Tape Capital of the World")? Bummer. I did log onto their web site, however, learned the interesting history of this mighty tape, and was wowed by the spiffy prom outfits concocted for the occasion. I also missed the Paperweight Museum in Cambridge, and an artistic topiary garden in Columbus, so will have to come back and have another go.


The visit in Cleveland was delightful, with the exception of the night Penny left the roof vent open (for the garden), and there was an unexpected downpour. Poor Peachy was pretty wet, and all of the envelopes stuck together, but a few days of 80 degree weather and using the old-fashioned 4-60 method of air conditioning (driving at 60 miles per hour with all four windows open) dried out most things. It will be postcards from now on, however. Our kind hosts treated Penny to dinner overlooking the lake at sunset, and helped take Peachy to the VW dealer for a check-up.

From Cleveland we headed South to Malabar Farm, a place I have wanted to see for many years. It was the life work of Louis Bromfield, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author and screen writer. He entertained many famous people at the farm, and a high point in its history was the wedding of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, held in the grand front hall there. The farm is now maintained by the State of Ohio as a museum and study center for sustainable farming.

Since we were so close to Kentucky, we next headed for Lexington. As we approached the border the lush and level fields (still corn and soybeans) started to crumple into hills, the fields became smaller, and soon horse fences and tobacco fields appeared.

The Kentucky Horse Park near Lexington is a wonderful place, with manicured lawns and gardens, elegant buildings, many breeds of horses to meet face to face, museums, videos, and more horse trailers than I could count. Some of them were so grand it seemed that they must be the abodes of rock stars.

It was very hot and humid, so we turned West and headed for Louisville with air conditioning on full tilt. Louisville looked really fine, but I was so hot that I made but one stop, at the Kentucky Art and Craft Museum. This was terrific, with textiles, jewelry, wood, metal, and found objects crafted into beautiful, useful, outrageous, and fun things. There are many talented people living in Kentucky!

While driving through Louisville I noticed a pocket park where "naked ladies" or magic lilies were blooming. It reminded me of the naughty pleasure we had at Washington Cathedral when we told visitors that "the naked ladies are dancing in the Bishop's Garden"!

One really noticeable thing about Louisville is the number of bridges getting to and from it. I counted seven, I think, and we chose the most likely one to cross over into Indiana, advertising itself as, "The Sunnyside of Louisville". Here we found one of the most interesting places yet - The Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center - which included a 7 foot- long mammoth tusk! More next time.

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Wendell Berry

Shalom